


We are family

by Rose_SK



Series: Toss A Child To Your Witcher Mini Ficlets [2]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Family Fluff, Fluff, Good Parent Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Good Parent Jaskier | Dandelion, M/M, POV Child, Parent Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Parent-Child Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22587484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_SK/pseuds/Rose_SK
Summary: Willow finds out why Jaskier doesn't have a wife.oooPlease read Toss A Child To Your Witcher first before reading this fic. It is based on my multi-chapter, which introduces Willow. This story takes place after the events in the main fic. Could be read as a stand alone, but would make a lot more sense if you read the main fic first.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: Toss A Child To Your Witcher Mini Ficlets [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625245
Comments: 11
Kudos: 357





	We are family

**Author's Note:**

> Based on Hush_My_Darling's request, I loved the idea so much that I was instantly inspired. Hoped this is kinda what you had in mind. 
> 
> Please read Toss A Child To Your Witcher first before reading this fic. It is based on my multi-chapter, which introduces Willow. This story takes place after the events in the main fic. Could be read as a stand alone, but would make a lot more sense if you read the main fic first.

Willow woke up from a nightmare early that morning. She let out a terrified whimper as the whistling of the wind startled her. Willow was panting as she tried to stop her heart from racing in her chest. She was beginning to worry that it might burst out of her body with how fast it was beating. Willow could tell that the sun had not yet risen by how dark her room was. Her mind replayed her nightmare, causing tears to well up in her eyes as she relived the traumatic events of her dreams. A small sob pushed past her lips as she heard the low rumbling of thunder in the distance. With shaky hands, she pushed her covers aside and made a beeline for her door. Willow let her tears run freely down her cheeks as she made her way to the second bedroom of the cottage. She knew Jaskier would keep her safe from the storm.

Willow all but burst into the second bedroom as a second boom of thunder resonated in the cottage. She leapt onto the bed and unfortunately landed on top of Jaskier, who let out a pained groan at the sudden weight being dropped onto him. In any other circumstance, Willow would have apologised, but she was too scared to do anything of the such at that moment. She managed to weasel her way under the covers and pressed herself firmly against Jaskier’s chest as she pulled the covers over her head for added protection. She relaxed ever so slightly when she felt Jaskier’s arms pull her even closer to him and shush her softly.

“Hey sweetheart, what’s going on?” he asked, his voice heavy with sleep.

“I’m scared, dad,” was the only explanation she provided Jaskier. Even though her words were muffled by the covers, Jaskier seemed to understand and started raking his fingers through her hair in an effort to coax her back to sleep. The sound of the heavy rain hitting the windows of the cottage, together with the sound of the agitated sea were occasionally trumped by the deafening sound of thunder. Willow was still scared, but Jaskier’s groggy voice singing lullabies to her quickly appeased the child’s fears. After what felt like hours, the storm seemed to dissipate as a few rays of sunshine even managed to pierce through the curtains into the room.

“No point in going back to sleep now,” Jaskier lamented, heaving a sigh as he did so. Willow felt guilty for waking him up, but at the same time she was glad she had. She felt infinitely better in his arms and was taking advantage of their position to extract some morning cuddles out of him.

“When is Geralt coming home?” Willow asked, breaking the prolonged silence. Jaskier sighed again and placed a soft kiss on the child’s hair.

“I’m not sure, sweetheart. Soon.”

“I miss him,” Willow admitted as she pulled away from Jaskier to look at his face, “he’s away a lot. Why can’t he stay here forever?”

“He stayed as long as he could the last time, but we were running out of coin. He went looking for monsters to kill so we can keep buying pretty dresses for you, little miss, and food to fill our bellies.”

“You like pretty clothes as much as I do,” Willow countered. Jaskier made an affronted face, which a pulled a small giggle from the girl.

“Do you kiss your dad with that mouth?”

“Yeah,” Willow placed a quick peck on Jaskier’s cheek, “see?”

“Was that a kiss? At least kiss me like you mean it, child,” Jaskier teased, which only encouraged Willow to attack his cheek with an army of wet kisses. Willow laughed when Jaskier pretended to surrender to the onslaught.

“Alright, alright I yield, o’ horrid creature. Spare me, I’m begging you, spare me!” he dramatically cried out, making Willow laugh in utter glee.

“Hey! I’m not horrid. You take that back, or…”

“Or what?” Jaskier taunted her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, “now don’t get too bold, little imp. I know exactly how to defeat you. Don’t make me use my secret weapon…”

“What secret weapon?” Willow asked with curiosity, but before she could react, Jaskier pinned her to the mattress and started tickling every part of her body. The child high pitched scream could have probably woken the dead, and despite her pleas for Jaskier to stop, the nimble fingers knew exactly what they were doing and within seconds, she was begging to be released.

“Do you yield?” Jaskier asked her in a serious voice, and Willow all but shouted her agreement at her attacker. A sudden noise caught both their attention and made them stop in their tracks. Willow was the first to recognise the noise for what it was, and her eyes widened in surprise. She would recognise Roach’s neigh anywhere.

“GERALT,” she cried out without warning before dashing out of the room and to the front door, Jaskier in toe. She ignored him shouting at her not to open the door in case it was a stranger, but he was too late to the chase. By the time Willow had reached the front room, Geralt had already stepped into the cottage and managed to catch the excited child mid-air thanks to his quick reflexes.

“You’re up early,” Geralt remarked as Willow tightly wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck, not caring how greasy his hair was or that he had not bathed in three days. Willow merely nodded in response to Geralt’s comment, enjoying the hug silently while she had the chance. Jaskier was the cuddlier one between the two, but Geralt always had one in store for her when he came back from his travels and just before he left. She tightened her hold even more as Geralt went to put her back on the floor.

“Come on sweetheart, don’t hog him,” Jaskier softly chastised, which finally convinced Willow to let go. As soon as Geralt’s arms were free again he pulled a small package out of his bag and handed it to Willow. She excitedly snatched the package out of his hand and pulled away the leather wrapping.

“Look dad, Geralt brought me a doll!” Willow exclaimed happily as she raised her arms to bring the doll as close to Jaskier’s face as possible for him to appreciate the gift in its full glory.

“That’s a really pretty doll, sweetheart. What do you say?”

“Thank you, Geralt!” Willow dutifully said before running off into her room to add the doll to her collection. She decided to name her Ella, and Ella would fit right in with Anabelle and Catherine, her other dolls. Willow grabbed her hairbrush and pretended to brush out the tangles in Ella’s hair – after all, she had no doubt been travelling in this leather package for a long time. She deserved to be pampered before joining her pretty sisters. After Willow had made Ella presentable, she put the doll on the windowsill next to the other ones and ran back into the front room. Willow stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Geralt and Jaskier hugging. She watched as Geralt squeezed Jaskier’s shoulders with his large hands before pulling away and whispering something in his ear. Willow shrugged at the display and decided to let Jaskier know that it was time for breakfast.

OoO

Geralt ended up staying longer this time. He had earned enough coin to last them several months without him having to leave again. Willow was overjoyed, because it meant that Geralt would be teaching her swordfight and horseback riding again. She would finally get a break from her reading, writing and singing lessons. Recently Jaskier had tried to teach her to play the lute – she found it unnecessarily complicated, and only partially enjoyed it. She liked singing, but Jaskier always told her that she was off-key. Willow still did not really know what he meant by that, but him trying to correct her singing always broke her flow.

Jaskier seemed a lot happier too now that Geralt was back, Willow noticed. He started writing songs again and played on his lute a lot more. He would sing nearly every day, which was what he usually did when he was in a good mood. Geralt always complained about the singing, but Willow had caught him whistling one of Jaskier’s tune once when he was tending to Roach. When Willow mentioned it to him, Geralt denied it. Willow did not understand why adults lied even though they always wanted her to tell the truth. Adults were confusing that way.

One day, Jaskier came back from town looking sad and Willow noticed that something was wrong as soon as Jaskier stepped into the front room. Willow had been practicing her writing with Geralt when suddenly Jaskier had thrown his lute onto the floor and stormed off into the bedroom. The action startled Willow, who froze in her seat too scared to say or do anything for fear it would make Jaskier even more upset. She shot Geralt a confused look, but he merely patted her shoulder and followed Jaskier into the bedroom. For a long time, Willow did not move from her seat, but when she heard Jaskier raise his voice at Geralt she decided to eavesdrop on the conversation.

“They threw their food at me, Geralt! I remember one time when people enjoyed my singing, but now? They can’t make the difference between art and drunken gibberish. I’ve heard those younger bards their songs make no sense whatsoever! All they’re worried about is to insult the ruling classes and make love to women!”

“Unlike your songs, which were always all about respecting women’s dignity and how great the established powers were,” Geralt said in a tone that he used a lot, but which Willow had discovered always meant the opposite of what he was saying.

“That was different, Geralt. I created poetry, I created art. Those new-age bards are not concerned with the beauty of words anymore.”

“Jaskier…”

“No, spare me. Why am I even talking to you about this? You always said that my singing was like ordering a pie and finding it has no filling. Or was that not what you told me that one time, you know, before I nearly died because of your genie gin gin?”

Willow’s brows furrowed in concern at those words, and she wondered when Jaskier had nearly died because of Geralt. It did not make sense in her mind, because Geralt would never let anything happen to them. Perhaps Jaskier had just said those things because he was angry. Willow remembered her ma telling her that sometimes people we love said things they did not mean in anger, but that we should always forgive them because they are family.

“I’m going to say this one time, and never bring it up again so listen carefully. I love your singing and your poetry, Jaskier. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re not talented. You don’t hear a fisherman taking advice from a hunter, because the fisherman knows that his job requires different skills from a hunter’s.”

“Who am I in this analogy?” Jaskier enquired after a brief silence, “the fisherman or the hunter?”

“Are you purposefully missing my point here, bard?” Geralt asked grumpily, which was followed by Jaskier’s amused laugh.

“I’m merely teasing you Geralt, you grumpy witcher,” Willow heard a noise that sounded a lot like Jaskier was kissing Geralt on the cheek, “but I appreciate the compliment. I promise you I won’t ever mention this ever again.”

“Hm. Now I need to teach Willow why it is rude to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations.”

Damn witchers and their superhuman hearing.

OoO

Willow asked Geralt one day when his birthday was, and she was shocked to hear that he could not remember.

“What do you mean? It’s not difficult to remember!” she argued.

“It was a long time ago, little one, and we never celebrated birthdays at the school I went to,” Geralt explained, and Willow sincerely hoped that he and Jaskier would never send her to such a cruel and stupid school.

“I still don’t understand why you don’t remember the date of your birthday.”

“I had to make space for more important information in my brain,” was all Geralt said in return. Willow was still confused, but she could tell that the topic was making Geralt grumpy. She did not ask him any more questions on his birthday or the school he went to. That night, when Jaskier was tucking her in, she asked him instead.

“Dad, why does Geralt not remember his birthday?”

The question took Jaskier by surprise.

“Why do you ask, sweetheart?”

“I asked Geralt today, and he got really annoyed at me. He told me that his school wouldn’t let him celebrate his birthday, but that doesn’t explain why he can’t remember the date. I’m confused…”

“Well,” Jaskier sat at the edge of her mattress and brushed a rebel strand of hair out of Willow’s face as he pulled her covers up to her chin, “Geralt went to a special school. You know how he is a witcher?”

“Yeah, he kills monsters and he can do magic.”

“Exactly, but he was not born a witcher. He was born a human, and when he was a child, even younger than you, his mother sent him to this special school where he could learn how to kill monsters and use magic. Only because he was human, he had to go through special training to be able to wield magic. That training is very difficult, even painful, and it made him forget a lot about his life as a human. For example, he forgot what it feels like to feel in pain because he became more resistant. He forgot what his mother looked like, and he also happened to have forgotten the date of his birthday.”

Willow was listening to Jaskier’s every word intently, not sure how she felt about the situation. She felt sad for Geralt. She knew what it was like to not have a mother, and although she was happy with Jaskier and Geralt, she missed her parents very much still. Willow often wished that her parents were alive and that the five of them could live together in a big house, like a big family. Her parents would have loved Jaskier, she knew it, and they would have warmed up to Geralt if they knew how important he was to Willow and Jaskier.

“That’s really sad. I want to give Geralt a hug, now.”

“Well, keep that for tomorrow. He doesn’t like talking about that part of his life, but I think you deserve to know. Hey, I have an idea. How about we go to the market tomorrow and buy him a present, and then surprise him with a cooked meal when he comes back from hunting?”

Willow lit up at the suggestion, and she quickly agreed. The next day was spent preparing Geralt’s surprise. Jaskier had cooked a beef stew, they had bought some wine from the market and a small wooden sculpture of a wolf that Willow thought Geralt would love. When Geralt came back from his hunt, Jaskier had drawn him a hot bath to help him relax and suggested that he and Willow could take care of Roach while Geralt bathed in peace. The witcher had gladly taken them up on that offer. After allowing Geralt enough time to relax in his bath, the three of them ate dinner together while Jaskier and Willow occasionally glanced knowingly at each other. When it was finally time to give Geralt his present he looked suspicious, but there was a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips when Willow handed him a small wooden box.

“Happy birthday, Geralt,” she said with a shy smile, “I know you don’t know when your birthday is, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate it.”

Geralt smiled earnestly at her as he took the lid off the box and discovered the wooden wolf inside it. For a long time, he did not say anything and Willow was concerned that he did not enjoy his present. She shot Jaskier a worried look, but the warm smile on his face told Willow that everything was fine. So why was Geralt not saying anything?

“Do you like it?” she ventured, only to be pulled into a tight hug. Albeit surprised at first, Willow willingly melted into the embrace.

“I love it, little cub. Thank you,” Geralt whispered in her ear before placing a soft kiss on her temple. Geralt then let go of her and rose to his feet to embrace Jaskier too, but this time he kissed him on the lips rather than on the cheek. Willow stared at the display, not sure what to think of it. She remembered her parents kissing this way before, but she had only ever seen Geralt and Jaskier kiss like this once, the first time she had met Jaskier. In Willow’s mind, only people who really loved each other kissed like that. At the time, she thought that Jaskier had just been really relieved to see Geralt again after a long time away, but since then Willow had never seen them kiss like that again.

Perhaps they did love each other in the same way her parents had, which was unusual. They were two men and Willow had never seen two men kiss like that before.

“Are you guys married?” she blurted out before she could think better of it. The question seemed to make Jaskier and Geralt very uncomfortable judging by how the two of them avoided her and each other’s gaze. It was Geralt who finally answered.

“No, little one. We’re not.”

“But… do you love each other?” she asked, feeling bold.

“We do, sweetheart. Very much,” Jaskier replied this time, his hand seeking Geralt’s. Willow looked between them, and then at their conjoined hands.

“I didn’t know men loved each other like that.”

“Well sweetheart you see,” Jaskier let go of Geralt’s hand and crouched in front of her, taking both her hands in his, “a lot of people feel uncomfortable when two men kiss each other, or love each other. That’s why Geralt and I try to not do it around people too much, do you understand? It’s not worth the trouble.”

“But why would people not like that? Loving someone is a good thing, right?”

“It is, sweetheart. It’s just unusual, and people often feel uncomfortable when they don’t understand something. That doesn’t mean that Geralt and I don’t love each other very much, we’re just careful when we show our affections. Do you understand?”

Willow thought about it for a second but found the concept easy enough to get her head around. She nodded and smiled at Jaskier before hugging him. She felt his arms lift her off the floor, and even Geralt joined in the hug.

“We love you very much, Willow. Don’t ever forget that,” Jaskier said as he placed a quick kiss on her cheek.

“I love you dad. And you too, da,” she said addressing Geralt, whose eyes widened comically when she spoke those words, “Is it okay if I call you da?”

“I, uh…,” it was not often that Geralt struggled to find his words, but when Jaskier smiled encouragingly at him the witcher seemed to relax a little, “of course that’s okay, little one.”

“Good. Dad?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Where do babies come from?”

THE END.


End file.
